Family Friends

Our volunteers give back to their community by reaching out to children and families with special needs. Volunteers choose between a range of Family Friends activities and projects - depending on the time they have to give, how and where they want to spend their time. Many of our volunteers spend 2 hours a week visiting the home of a family raising a child with special needs.  They take part in a wide range of activities with their child such as playing games, doing arts and crafts, helping with homework, visiting the library, talking together and giving encouragement. Volunteers also chaperon Saturday trips to a variety of locations throughout the area.

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Meet our volunteers:

Yvette has been with the Family Friends program for 3 years.  She works with two families, one where the caregiver is on dialysis raising 4 young children and the other one where the caregiver is retired and raising 3 of her grandchildren.  Working with the families keeps her energized. She loves helping them with homework and participating in family activities.  She says she feels joy when they call her name.  Yvette spent many years working with children, but feels volunteering with Family Friends is more personable.  Yvette says that she "look(s) forward to spending many years with the families and growing with them.”
 

Mamie started volunteering with the program in 1998. Mamie is originally from Savannah Georgia and taught school for 30 years.  During her time with us, she has worked with two families. Mamie says, “I have gained a deeper understanding of how disabilities impact those who have them.  I also feel compassion for those who do not understand the full impact of disability and can see life only through their own eyes.”

Othelia has been with the program for about 10 years and during that time, has worked with two families.  She says she is always motivated to help others. She retired after 37 years in the housekeeping field form Roxborough Hospital.  She is active with her church and loves helping people in need.
 

Pat is 51 and working full time at an insurance company. She is active with her church and loves to plan tours and bus trips for groups. Having navigated through her own daughter’s adolescence and young adult years, Pat wanted to be a mentor to teens in her community. A year ago, a friend told her about Family Friends and invited her to get involved. As a Family Friends volunteer, she spends time each week with two teenage girls who are each being raised by their grandmothers. They talk on the phone together about school and family, go out to see a movie, and spend time together shopping or exploring activities in the city.

Paula is 73 years old. She emigrated to Philadelphia many years ago and is now retired from her job as a nanny and housekeeper. She has helped raise many children and considers them all “her babies”. As a Family Friends volunteer, Paula enjoys being a chaperone for the Saturday trips for kids being raised by grandparents. Her favorite trips have been to the Philadelphia Zoo and the NJ Adventure Aquarium. Her other role as a Family Friends volunteer is providing play activities for a small group of young children while their grandparents participate in a support group each week.

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